Introduction of targeted agents revolutionized the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in the past decade. Addition of chimeric monoclonal anti-CD20 antibody rituximab to chemotherapy significantly improved efficacy including overall survival (OS) in untreated fit patients; humanized anti-CD52 antibody alemtuzumab and fully human anti-CD20 antibody ofatumumab lead to improvement in ...

The CD20 antigen is an attractive target for specific treatment of B-cell lymphoma. Antibody-directed enzyme prodrug therapy (ADEPT) aims at the specific activation of a nontoxic prodrug at the tumor site by an enzyme targeted by a tumor-specific antibody such as anti-CD20. We constructed a fusion protein of the single-chain Fv anti-CD20 mouse monoclonal antibody (MoAb) 1H4 and human beta-glucu...

Several melanoma cell subpopulations with tumor-initiating and/or tumor-maintaining properties exist that may contribute to chemoresistance and tumor recurrence after standard therapies. One of these subpopulations expresses a B-cell marker, CD20. In a small pilot trial, we showed that a subset of Stage IV melanoma patients may potentially benefit from an adjuvant treatment using the anti-CD20 ...

We report a 72-year-old man with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia (WM) in whom diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLCL) occurred 17 years after the diagnosis of WM. The malignant cells of both DLCL and WM expressed CD20 on their surface. CHOP plus anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, rituximab, were effective for both diseases, and the patient remains disease-free 17 months later.

Introduction Rituximab (RTX) is a chimeric monoclonal antibody directed against the CD20 antigen on the surface of B lymphocytes. It binds to CD20 and causes B cells death by different mechanisms. In what concerns rheumatic diseases, it is only approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. However, there is growing evidence of its utility in other diseases, including in pediatric patients.

BACKGROUND Fc gamma receptor polymorphisms were linked to outcome in follicular lymphoma patients treated with single-agent rituximab, an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody. In particular, 158F/F genotype of Fc gamma receptor 3A and 131R/R genotype of Fc gamma receptor 2A correlated with worse outcome compared to high-affinity 158V/V and 131H/H, respectively. We examined this association in the cont...

The major cause of treatment failure following high-dose therapy with autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT) for low-grade lymphomas (non-Hodgkin's lymphoma [NHL]) is persistent disease or recurrence. Most patients whose disease progresses following AHCT have resistant disease and limited bone marrow reserve. In this setting, treatment options are limited and responses to conventi...

PURPOSE Bispecific antibody (bsMAb) pretargeting procedures use divalent hapten-peptides to stabilize the binding of the hapten-peptide on tumor cells by a process known as the affinity enhancement system. The goal of this study was to determine if a divalent hapten-peptide could induce apoptosis by cross-linking bsMAb bound to CD20. METHODS Three forms of bsMAbs were prepared by coupling the...

T cell dysfunction is well documented during chronic viral infections but little is known about functional abnormalities in humoral immunity. Here we report that mice persistently infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) exhibit a severe defect in Fcγ-receptor (FcγR)-mediated antibody effector functions. Using transgenic mice expressing human CD20, we found that chronic LCMV infe...